"That is... the Golden Sacred Dragon! No, that is impossible!"
Ethan Drake stood in the audience seats and felt as if he had been thrown onto a mountain road, rising and plunging again and again until he could barely breathe.
When he first saw his student Tang San defeated, despair had swept over him like a tide. It had felt as though the last thread of light in his dim life was about to go out.
Then Tang Hao appeared. He came with power deeper and more terrifying than before, stood before Tang San, and protected him. It was like a glass cover had been placed over that dying flame, letting it illuminate Ethan's life once more.
Now, with the Golden Sacred Dragon's appearance, Ethan's mood dropped again. The creature itself was beyond his understanding, and its aura was strong enough to stand on equal footing with Tang Hao.
Ethan raised his head and stared at the Golden Sacred Dragon condensed from formations and fragments of flesh. He remembered what Wu Ling had once said, and a thought he could not suppress rose in his mind.
If... if back then, when I faced Wu Ling, I had not looked down on him from above, had not treated him through the identity of Grandmaster, but bowed, pleaded, even humbled myself completely, could Luo Sanpao have evolved to that level?
Ethan immediately shook his head and strangled that thought before it could grow. Things had already reached this point. There was no room for regret. The first thing he had to do now was protect Tang San.
When he looked toward Tang San again, Tang Hao had also recovered.
"Hmph. So what if it has the same Spirit Power? It is still only a beast. How could it possibly defeat me, someone granted power by that lord?"
As he spoke, crimson Spirit Power mixed with the smell of blood spread from Tang Hao's body. The Spirit Hall Spirit Masters who had been guarding against him trembled. The Spirit Power inside them began to shake uncontrollably, as if ordinary people had met a superior, or as if the energy in their bodies had encountered something stronger and higher in quality.
The Titled Sages were affected most seriously, precisely because they had far more Spirit Power in their bodies.
As for the idea that quantity could produce quality, and that more Spirit Power should make resistance easier, that was only true at a sufficient scale. Ten thousand or a hundred million ants could indeed count as a qualitative change in front of an elephant. But one ant becoming a hundred ants was still far from reaching that level.
Simply put, a Titled Sage's Spirit Power was only abundant compared with ordinary people. Even when a person became a god, Spirit Power transformed into divine power. That was a fundamental qualitative change, not a mere accumulation of quantity.
But to Wu Ling, Spirit Power and divine power were not fundamentally different. Both could be treated as forms of energy. Since he had upgraded his Spirit Power Circuits into Energy Circuits, Wu Ling could easily include higher-quality divine power within the range of energies he could absorb.
As crimson Spirit Power gradually dyed Tang Hao's entire body, his aura slowly surpassed the limit of a level ninety-nine Ruler. Behind Spirit Hall, inside the Worship Hall, another golden pillar of light rose with immense pressure. That was Lucius Cross's aura.
Everyone felt as if another mountain had dropped onto them. Ordinary Titled Sages were already rare. Level ninety-nine Rulers were existences most Titled Sages could never touch in their entire lives. Yet now, three had appeared at once. The sight rang a warning bell for everyone present.
Tang Hao's expression shifted when he sensed Lucius's aura. Although he had surpassed the level ninety-nine limit, he had not reached true godhood. If one had to name his current state, he was at level ninety-nine point five. Against one Ruler, he could win. Against two, he could protect his life. Against three, the outcome was hard to say.
Before Tang Hao could think of a way out, the will inside that blood-colored Spirit Power reached his mind. A heartbeat later, Lucius Cross's aura withdrew, as if he no longer intended to interfere.
Even Wu Ling was a little stunned by Lucius's behavior.
Wait. He is bullying you right at your doorstep, and you just go back?
Wu Ling could defeat Tang Hao even without Lucius acting, but some things were about attitude. Tang Hao had attacked civilians in the heart of Spirit City. He had attacked the current pope of Spirit Hall and a junior of the same power. This was an insult only slightly better than someone climbing onto Spirit Hall's head and making filth there. Yet Lucius had simply gone back.
Even if he wanted to honor some old agreement, no one else knew that. Either stay hidden from the start, or reveal your aura and explain the old agreement. Showing up briefly and then vanishing would make people think one thing afterward: Spirit Hall's Grand Worship feared Tang Hao's power and withdrew without fighting.
While Wu Ling was speechless, Tang Hao burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Before this power, even another Ruler must retreat. But you are not affected? No wonder that lord noticed you. Even so, that is all. This is Spirit City. You cannot unleash that attack as recklessly as last time, can you? But I can!"
Now, Tang Hao was wrapped in blood-red Spirit Power. His hair, eyes, and even the originally black Clear Sky Hammer had been dyed red. His lips kept curling upward, making him look like a bloodthirsty demon. But only like one.
The only thing he feared from Wu Ling was that terrifying strike from before. Yet its strength was also its weakness. Wu Ling could not release such an attack inside Spirit City. In Tang Hao's mind, Wu Ling was like a wolf with its fangs hidden away, forced to wait for death with hands tied.
Tang Hao was about to continue speaking when he suddenly saw disgust in Wu Ling's eyes.
Yes. Disgust. As if Wu Ling was simply tired of him talking.
Tang Hao finally snapped awake. He knew the principle that too many words led to failure. Unfortunately, it was already too late. Before he could act, Wu Ling had placed a skull mask over his face with a movement that seemed both fast and slow.
At once, Wu Ling vanished.
The last thing Tang Hao saw before Wu Ling disappeared was a skull mask with blue fire burning in its eye sockets.
Clang.
Only after the sword stroke had already finished did the sound of the swing arrive late. Tang Hao sensed Wu Ling behind him, though he had no idea when Wu Ling had gotten there.
Tang Hao tried to move, but every bit of power inside him left him at once, as if something had cut it away.
Then Wu Ling's voice drifted from behind him, low and cold.
"Shura was originally a god of judgment, one who should preserve the proper order of the world. Now he has lost his way and stepped onto the path of slaughter. Judgment falls."